I make double ristrettos at home. My only experience with ordering one at a cafe was a bad experience. The girl, who had only been trained for a few months told me there was no such thing as a "double ristretto". She said the way it was made it had to be a single ristretto. I watched in dismay as she let the shot run for about 10 seconds then pulled the cup away from the pour and placed it before me. I was too shocked to argue with her. Never again!!

Crawl with the knowledge that there is more than one way to produce the ristretto...

As a rough rule, a double ristretto is around 1.5 ounces (45 ml) in the time it would normally take you to pull a standard double (2 ounces / 60 ml).

Some produce a ristretto via a change in the grind - this works for a home or multi grinder situation well. The other common method I have observed is to pack more coffee, tighter to achieve the same result.

It is not achieved by simply stopping the pour at the desired volume.

From my reading, the ristretto gets lumbered with a lot of hype, which doesn't help it's cause. Followed, as evidenced by this thread, with people ordering ristrettos and getting crap. I have ordered a ristretto maybe three or four times? all at the same cafe, and prefaced with the question "is now a good time for a ristretto?" The barista, whom we get on well with has made two. Both good - the other times he said no, and gave me a standard espresso. I had a barista tell me the other day he was making me ristrettos - he was failing, I told him to stick to espresso...

Best place to experiment, therefore, with ristrettos - in the safety of your own home!

I own a small shop in a college/tourist town. All the time we get people coming in asking for one drink or another that is beyond "a cup of coffee". This always presents a problem. A "double cap"to one person is- double the coffee to milk , another means 2 caps one big cup and another wants extra milk. What is a ristretto? Is it always defined by all people the same way? Can I measure % of soluables,grind, time,temp,pressure, etc.and know that its a ristretto as opposed to a short shot? At this point I simply ask each to explain their terms.Most of the time this satisfies all involved. Occasionally some will look at me like I'm stupid.

My point is that we use their language (ristretto) but have altogether different attitudes, similar only in appearances; appearance cut's it here, but not in italy, where it's in the cup where it belongs.

I would say again that those coffee geeks can make their own coffee drinks at home, as they like, but not to expect to get it in a commercial situation. It is really not necessary, nor reasonable to do it, at least for a commercial situation.

Peter in Beijing-------------------http://www.kaffa.cn/-------------------I am looking for the way and the place to extend our trainning courses.

Great article. I am a ristretto lover and I must say I have not found many places, apart from my own house, where one gets a proper ristretto.Two places in Brisbane, one in Ft Lauderdale, one in Belfast, and I have tried many I must say.

A trick to get the perfect ristretto, I believe, is to really pre-heat the cup,of course, but then let the first 4-5 secs of extraction to run away and then put cup under to get your perfect ristretto!!! The first amount of hot water heats up the grind and then and only then is the extraction perfect.

That is right on the money. Sure, it's a the barometer of quality however it's far far more frequently the fast track to disappointment. Still, fairytales do exist and if you stop kissing toads, you may never meet the prince.

Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post

Forum Rules:No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards.No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum.No SEO style postings will be tolerated. SEO related posts will result in immediate ban from CoffeeGeek.No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum.Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards.Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics.Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies.Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies.Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts.Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.